Clara Gutsche: The Convent Series - Softcover

Gascon, France

Softcover

ISBN 10: 2921801086 ISBN 13: 9782921801089

Publisher: ABC Art Books Canada, 2001

Synopsis

These remarkable photographs testify to the remarkable talent and tenacity of the artist as well as to a remarkable subject: the cloistered religious communities of Québec, among the last in North America. Originally drawn by the desire to document the cloisters' interior architectural spaces, Gutsche ultimately came under the thrall of the women themselves. Oscillating between portraiture and interior scenes, Gutsche reveals her architectural interest through formal composition, sparse settings and the stillness of the figures. However, the objectivity and evident respect she has for her subjects is heightened by a theatricality and by a critical stance. Elements of humour - although never parody - and even kitsch permeate theses shots of the sisters working, praying and playing. Through her deliberate mise en scène and strong sense of colour and setting, Gutsche conveys very particular cultural and social relationships. By weaving herself as a photographer and as a woman into a rarified social fabric, Gutsche allows us to encounter realities to which she imparts an unprecedented presence. New edition. In English and French.

About this edition

• Publisher: ABC Art Books Canada
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 2921801086
• ISBN 13: 9782921801089
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 88